Process for treating ulcerated teeth.



Patented J1me 14, 1910.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

W/TNESSES ANDREW a. GRAHAM co FNDTO-LITNOGRAFNERS, WASHINGTON, 1:. c1

F. M. CRANE. PROCESS FOR TREATING ULGERATED TEETH.

APPLICATION FILED $IPT. 28, 1908.

Patented June 14, 1910.

% /NVENTOH 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

ANDbi EW B GRAHAM m, Puo'mLnHocnAPnERs,wAsx-uNGrON, 0.x:

FRANK M. CRANE, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS FOR TREATING ULCERATED TEETH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 113 14, 1910,

Application filed September 28, 1908. Serial No. 455,195.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. CRANE, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processesfor Treating Ulcerated Teeth, of which the following is a specification.

This invent-ion relates more particularly to the treatment of teeth inwhich the nerve is dead and an accumulation of gas, pus, congested bloodor the like has formed in the nerve canal or at the apex of the root ofthe tooth in the surrounding tissue, the resulting pressure causinginflammation and great pain. The treatment of such a tooth heretoforehas been by making an opening into the nerve canal of the tooth, and bythe insertion of a slender instrument drawing out so much of the pus orlike matter as possible, and then packing the cavity with suitablemedicaments. Obviously, however, it has been impossible to reach orbring out all of the foreign matter with the said instrument, andfurthermore the insertion of the instrument tends more or less to packthe said matter at the bottom of the canal. The treatment has been veryimperfect, therefore, and in many cases ineflicient.

The objects of the present improvements are to avoid the insertion of aninstrument down through the nerve canal of the tooth to the diseasedpart; to secure a more perfect and complete withdrawal of the pus orlike matter; to facilitate such removal; to enable the nervecanahanddiseased part to be thoroughly and repeatedly washed out withany desired solution, and to obtain other advantages and results as maybe brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals ofreference indicate the same parts in the several figures, Figure 1 is aside elevation of an apparatus for carrying out my improved method oftreating a tooth, showing the same in use; Fig. 2 is a central verticallongitudinal section of said apparatus and of the tooth being treated;Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the tooth and the tip of my improvedapparatus applied thereto; and Fig. 4 is a section showing a certaincontrolling three-way valve in another position from that shown in Fig.2.

In said drawings, 10 indicates the alveolar process of the jaw and 11the flesh or gum;

12 is a tooth in the jaw with a nerve canal 13, and '14 indicates anulcer or accumulation of pus, congested blood or the like at the apex ofthe root of the tooth, such as is commonly caused by a dead nerve. By myimproved method of treating such a tooth, an opening 15 is made into thenerve canal at a convenient point. The end of the fine tubular tip 16 ofthe apparatus is then inserted in said opening, and the connectionsealed or made impervious by packing cement 17 around the said tipagainst the outer wall of the tooth. The said tip 16 is preferablycurved as at 18 to extend away from the tooth horizontally, and at itsbase is shown as screwed into the male member of a push coupling 19adapted to receive a cooperating female member 20 to the other end 21 ofwhich a flexible rubber tube 22 is connected. The other end of thisrubber tube is slipped over one of the three ducts or outlets of athree-way valve casing 23, and beyond said casing another rubber tube 24extends from another duct or outlet 25 of the valve casing to the cap 26of a bottle or tube 27. This cap provides a duct 28 leading from thesaid tube 24, and from which duct an extension tube 29 leads downwardinto the bottle for a considerable distance. Another duct 30 leads fromthe upper part of the bottle out through the cap, and through a tube 31to a chamber 32. A valve 33 is adapted to control the communication ofsaid tube 31 with the chamber, and said chamber has an outlet 34 throughwhich the air can be exhausted from its interior by any suitable means,such as an air pump (not shown). From the third duct or outlet 35 of thethree-way valve casing 23, a tube 36 extends to a rubber bulb 37 adaptedto contain liquid or any kind of an antiseptic or medicated solution.The valve 38 in said three-way valve casing has 9. diametric port 39 anda branch port 40 leading therefrom, the outlets of said ports throughthe walls of the valve being so located that when the diametric port 39connects the two outlets 23 and 25 of the valve casing 23, the otherduct 35 leading to the bulb 37 is closed, and on the other hand when thevalve is turned so that a portion of the diametric port 39 and thebranch port 40 connect the outlets 23 and 35 of the valve casing, theoutlet 25 leading to the bottle 27 is closed. Communication can thus beestablished between the tooth and either the bulb or bottle, as desired,the other being imperviously shut ofi meanwhile.

It will be understood that it was necessary in describing my inventionherein to show some one definite apparatus for purposes of illustration,and accordingly I have shown the one above described. No claim is i11-tended to be made herein to said apparatus, however, and other forms orconstructions of apparatus could be employed if desired.

In carrying out my improved method of treating a tooth, the air is firstexhausted from the chamber 32 and the valve 3?) opened. The three-wayvalve is then turned into the position shown in Fig. 2, and the efiectis to suck the pus or like matter at the base of the tooth out throughthe tube and three-way valve into the bottle 27, where its presence canbe noted through the glass walls. The three-way valve is then turnedinto the position shown in Fig. 4:, to establish communication betweenthe bulb 37 and the tooth and to close oft the bottle and ex haustmeans. Pressure upon the said bulb then forces its contents, or aportion thereof, into the tooth, after which the three-way valve isagain turned to shut off the bulb and connect the exhaust means, whenthe contents of the tooth are immediately with drawn into the saidbottle. The original accumulation of pus can, therefore, not only bedrawn out of the tooth, but also the tooth can be filled with medicatedsolutions, which are again withdrawn, and thus the tooth or diseasedpart thereof repeatedly washed out. Finally, the tubular tip 16 isremoved from the tooth and any suitable rootfilling inserted. Greatthoroughness and expedition in the treatmentof a tooth are thus securedby my improved method.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. The herein described method of treating ulcerated teeth, whichconsists in mak- FRANK M. CRANE.

In the presence of RUssELL M. EVERETT, FREDERICK GERMANN, J r.

